O Captain! My Captain! Poem by Walt Whitman

O Captain! My Captain!

Rating: 4.3


O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.


O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up- for you the flag is flung- for you the bugle trills; 10
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths- for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.


My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; 20
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain!
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Tish Howard 10 October 2012

this poem is about Abraham Lincoln - not just any random captain.... Abraham Lincoln is the captain, the ship is the United States, and the weathered trip was the Civil War....

305 71 Reply
Buddha Buddie 11 April 2013

When I was just a youngon, I would play with all sorts of toys like Barney stuffed animals and such...but one day I went fishin over yonder over dem hills ya know? ... Well as we was fishin, a dun big ol beaver jumped outer the grass and dun bit my nipple of me boddie! I just dun couldn't believe it so I ran home and iced that sucka for a couple of hours and it grew back...when I got in my room...I noticed dat da beava dun stole all mi toys! So dun ran back down to da lake over yonder ova dem dun hills! I got me some dumplings and through me in da water and waited...IT CAME! So I jumped in da lake and grabbed hold of dat beaver and bit dat dun beavers nipple off and he dun gave me my dun toys back!

180 186 Reply
Buddha Buddie 11 April 2013

Walt Whitman was a fantastic ball player in his day...he loved ice cream but his parents died when he was 10 from then on he lived on the streets and lived as bully

173 141 Reply
Chris Pike 07 February 2012

this peom is stupid i dont like it whatsoever

49 259 Reply
Buddha Buddie 11 April 2013

I'm beginning my own poem called how to be a Buddha buddie and love beavers at the same time

145 122 Reply
Rose Marie Juan-austin 21 September 2021

A powerful and very touching poem. So beautifully crafted and well executed.

2 0 Reply
Savita Tyagi 10 August 2021

This poem always brings out the most patriotic and intense emotions.

1 0 Reply
Sylvia Frances Chan 10 August 2021

Each time I read this poem, it deepens my heart. Marvelous poem.5 Stars full!

1 1 Reply
Dr Dillip K Swain 22 July 2021

Great.... In each visit I find more poetic joy than I had grasped it before!

0 1 Reply
Augustus Quaicoe 22 July 2021

such an artistic eulogy. bravo

0 0 Reply
Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

New York / United States
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